Pages

Monday, May 02, 2011

The consequences of current world events scare me. At times like these, one can only hope that we look to, and act on words of wisdom from those past.‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

SEE BELOWUPDATED: 3 May 2011

Regardless, as to whether it is a fake or not, I agree wholeheartedly with what my friend Liana has written in her note, in reference to the quote:

"... turns out the quote I posted has got a lot of media attention after an online article claimed it a fake. All I can say is whether it be a direct quote or not, what moved me was the notion that reverence and love that can be shown in the event of any man's death. It's not the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, but rather the jubilant and haughty celebration of it that people are feeling distressed about. It seems we are missing the point as we claim America the victor of evil or the country with God on its side. Just when I was getting swept up and angered by the media hype, this quote brought me back to my heart." - Liana Jessop

4
comments
:

Not the entire MLK quote was fake. It's from his 1967 book "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?" Full passage is here:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."